The Rogues Who Went Rogue
Chapter 98

Gerella's fairytale moment came to an end as well, and she wished she could just disappear but her ability seemed to be denying her request, so she stayed fully visible as she glanced back into the forest. "Part of those who are involved are basically my family, Toby. We're...not related by blood, but they're family nonetheless. You can't just ask me to give them up." "Why does your family want to challenge the Queen's Authority? If you wanted a place in the kingdom, all any of you had to do was ask. I doubt Xandar and Lucy would mind." "Xandar and Lucy?"

"The king and queen. She's the same queen whose power your family is trying to challenge," he tried not to sound too harsh but that did come out somewhat accusatory. Gerella knew she wasn't an innocent party here, so she calmly explained, “Asking isn't an option for us. Some of those who lived long enough to try saw the repercussions of that." "Like Saxum?"

"Yes."

"What happened when he tried?"

Gerella glanced at the forest again, making sure that no one was watching them before she explained in a whisper, "It was in Emperor Kosh's reign. Saxum's mother was a vampire, father a lycan. They had a set of twins together. It is said that the late ruler felt hybrids like us defied the laws of nature, and had to be eliminated. So, not only did they kill Saxum's twin brother, they killed the creatures who made them, sending a warning that no such union would be tolerated."

She continued, "Saxum survived because he was safely taken by his governess to nearby families. He went through a few trusted hands, one after another they kept him safe for at least a few days, until a witch advised that Saxum be brought to the Forest of Oderem, where she was sure he'd be safe, so that's what they did. The forest had long hated rulers preceding Emperor Kosh but the moment Saxum was brought in there, it was as if the shield strengthened. Authorities used to just fall ill from intrusion to search for non-hybrid proditors who used the forest to get away. After Saxum entered, the forest would choose the lethal methods to deal with authorities. It was like Saxum's presence made the forest hate those running the empire even more than it did before."

Gerella gave Toby a moment to take this in before proceeding to say, "In the decades that followed, vampires would run into werewolves or lycans at the border between the two territories, and replace out that they were bonded by fate. It's reckless to remain in the empire because of what Emperor Kosh did to Saxum's family, and it wasn't wise to live in wolf or lycan territories seeing there was still tension between the species. Sure, a wolf mate wouldn't kill the vampire counterpart but they didn't feel safe knowing that another wolf might do it." Toby challenged, "So, now the solution is to come up with some chemical to attack a creature who never attacked any of you, who had not invoked any violence unless it was to protect those she loved?"

Gerella didn't think that there was such a ruler. She was trained to think that all rulers were the same - cold, reckless, devoid of empathy. She swallowed a lump in her throat and muttered meekly, "We just want to be safe, Toby."

Toby didn't even miss a beat when he said, "Tell that to those your family abducted, Ella. Can you tell me that they feel safe now?"

Gerella bit her bottom lip and checked the forest again as she whispered, "I didn't agree with taking the children. But everyone felt that leaving them behind leaves a loose end, and they didn't want that."

Toby was too afraid to ask but had to, "Are they dead?"

She hesitated before answering, "The first death was yesterday. The rest of them are still in an induced coma for now."

"Even the kids?" His brows furrowed to the maximum.

She nodded as she bit her lip in guilt. "We didn't want them to see anything by accident."

Toby pressed the bridge of his nose and sighed before he asked in a low voice, "Where are they, Ella?"

She murmured, "I don't know. They've been sent to the three scientists working on...the chemical. Only Saxum knows where their lab is."

"Ella...you've got to admit this has gone too far. Sure, Emperor Kosh didn't do right by Saxum and his family but that's no excuse to attack the present rulers of both the lycans and vampires. You have no idea how close we were to war after the Blue Crescent attack. Wait, was that you guys or was that another player?"

She bit her lip before admitting, "It was one of the creatures we were...collaborating with, but we knew about the attack."

His eyes drilled into hers when he asked, "Knew about it, or helped plan it, Ella?"

Her dimmed eyes, pressed lips and overall uneasiness gave Toby his answer. He sighed again. A moment of silence passed between them before Gerella said, "It was meant to be a simple test."

Toby scoffed darkly as he replayed the events from the other day. "A simple test that could have sacrificed so many of my closest friends...my best friend - our queen, leaving the king who had just found her heartbroken and alone. Do you people know they just had a daughter together? Your plan was so close to leaving a child motherless, and not by accident. And that little lightbulb trick in the forest hideout? Really? You guys had to install a genocidal weapon to kill a kind that you share half of your genes with? Those vampires would've been dead if we weren't there to get them out!"

Gerella started getting confused. Lightbulb trick? Was that why Saxum got the veloxes to change the lightbulbs in every lamp during their departure? It was a weapon meant to kill whoever found their hideout?

Toby used the silence to assert, "This doesn't feel like you guys are fighting for a chance anymore, Ella. It feels like revenge. Your family, especially Saxum, wants blood."

Gerella argued in defense, "I didn't know about the lightbulbs. But I can tell you that whatever we're doing isn't revenge. As long as hybrids are safe, we won't hurt any more than we have to."

"Have to? You have to control and potentially kill...my best friend or have someone kill her to feel safe. Do you hear yourself right now, Ella?" Toby didn't feel the blossoming love anymore. What was engulfing him was disbelief and disappointment. "That's not the plan anymore," she muttered, not even knowing what she was doing anymore.

Toby looked at her, and she continued spilling the beans, "The scientists found that...they don't have time to come up with something to control her power, so that isn't the plan anymore."

"So what is the plan now? Controlling the king then getting him to kill her?"